I finished my plumbing today and fired up the new set up. The standpipe setup works great and I can tune it silent using the gate valve as designed.

Basically I have an internal weir that feeds an external overflow. There are a series of holes drilled in the aquarium side to allow water to pass from inside to outside. The problem is that the water level in the external box is too low and there is a very noisy waterfall through the holes.

Here is a pic, you can see the turbulence:

First Idea I had was baffle fit between the standpipes and the holes to force the water to travel around. Like so with a lid (which helped):

Second idea is maybe change the configuration of the middle open flow standpipe? But, I don't know if I can raise the water level using just the open flow standpipe? I can easily change the water level by closing off the siphon flow standpipe, but then too much water flows through the open flow standpipe for it to stay silent.

I would configure all your standpipes like the one on the left in the pictures. Your water line will be at the midline of the "tee" so cut longer sections of PVC for in between the bulkhead and the "tee" to raise the "tee" to whatever height will completely submerge the holes in your tank. If you want a completely full tank and overflow, the top of your standpipes will be above the rim of the tank.

Born to fish, forced to work, but only have time for work, family, and my aquarium.

if you close the gate valve on the syphon a bit it should rise the waterline on the outside box

i see now the holes in tank are low too
i would dry overflow box out and silicon a piece of glass on the inside of box so that only top half of holes let water in
or as much as necessary

Why would that matter at all? The height of the standpipe will determine level in tank not the holes. The holes will determine only the minimum level in the tank.

Quote:

I can easily change the water level by closing off the siphon flow standpipe, but then too much water flows through the open flow standpipe for it to stay silent.

Shouldn't the open standpipe be higher to act as an emergency overflow with the main water going down the inverted elbow so it is fairly silent?

Throttle back the valve so that the water level is higher in the overflow to eliminate the waterfall effect. Water should only flow through inverted elbow in normal circumstances. Second elbow is safety flow. If something happens like a blockage in main then water flows here. Third pipe is full open and should theoretically only have flow in a crisis situation. At least that's my understanding of it. IMO you can throttle back pipes one and two. Last open standpipe should have clear path to sump in case of major malfunction.

Dilution is the solution for the pollution.
Quote me as saying I was misquoted.
Once you get rid of integrity the rest is a piece of cake.
Here's to our wives and sweethearts - may they never meet.
If you agreed with me we'd both be right.

I tried cutting up a baffle out of some plastic and got it to work really well that way. Basically its friction fit between the holes and the standpipe and has a notch along the bottom to allow water past. Perfectly silent drain.

I wish I could say the same for the blueline hd30 which is as noisy as any cheap pond pump Everybody said this would be a quiet, maybe I got a defective one.

In rereading your OP I have a question. You have a "box" around the holes on the inside the tank? With another box on the outside for the overflow? The holes are just a pass through between the 2 boxes?

Dilution is the solution for the pollution.
Quote me as saying I was misquoted.
Once you get rid of integrity the rest is a piece of cake.
Here's to our wives and sweethearts - may they never meet.
If you agreed with me we'd both be right.

''Why would that matter at all? The height of the standpipe will determine level in tank not the holes. The holes will determine only the minimum level in the tank.''

the out flow is a syphon, it height does not determine out box level.just its flow rate
much more out flow the syphon breaks because the level in box drops and air gets sucked in and or great more noise, any less flow and the levels become even with tank making it just a filter intake not a overflow
there is not enough play between tank level and sypon level to adjust well

''Why would that matter at all? The height of the standpipe will determine level in tank not the holes. The holes will determine only the minimum level in the tank.''

the out flow is a syphon, it height does not determine out box level.just its flow rate
much more out flow the syphon breaks because the level in box drops and air gets sucked in and or great more noise, any less flow and the levels become even with tank making it just a filter intake not a overflow
there is not enough play between tank level and sypon level to adjust well

In the setup he has, the first pipe with the elbow could run with or without siphon effect. As soon as water gets just above the level of the tee that the downfacing elbow is attached to water will flow. Given the same setup if he were to raise the tee he could raise the height of the water level in the outside box (this is of course disregarding the incorrect height of the other 2 pipes.

We are in agreement that there is no adjustability in this setup.
Curious. What do you consider an overflow and what do you consider a filter intake? I'll give you my take. An overflow gets the surface water. A filter intake could get surface water but more than likely is below the surface. Looking at the first picture it appears he has a glass box on the inside of the tank. I'm not 100% sure so I asked the question. If he does that will determine actual tank water level. So all he needs to do is control water between the 2 boxes. If the holes are fully submerged it won't matter at all.

The part I highlighted in red looks like glass siliconed to the inside of the tank so the actual overflow is inside the tank and the outer box is in reality a filter intake. Unless I am overlooking something.

Attached Images

Dilution is the solution for the pollution.
Quote me as saying I was misquoted.
Once you get rid of integrity the rest is a piece of cake.
Here's to our wives and sweethearts - may they never meet.
If you agreed with me we'd both be right.

In rereading your OP I have a question. You have a "box" around the holes on the inside the tank? With another box on the outside for the overflow? The holes are just a pass through between the 2 boxes?

Correct.

I will take a better picture tonight and include the baffle.

I guess my major design flaw was not accounting for the difference in water level set by the siphon system and the water level inside the wier box. I should have made them the same physical hieght.

Last edited by starquestMM; 10-30-2012 at 06:08 PM.
Reason: clarification

If you're trying to run a "Herbie" drain you don't need the outside box at all. Will your holes fit standard bulkhead sizing?

Dilution is the solution for the pollution.
Quote me as saying I was misquoted.
Once you get rid of integrity the rest is a piece of cake.
Here's to our wives and sweethearts - may they never meet.
If you agreed with me we'd both be right.

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